


If Only By Your Power

by allmyinvisiblemonsters



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Thorki - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 03:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3675612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmyinvisiblemonsters/pseuds/allmyinvisiblemonsters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's difficult. You hate someone so much, you want them to die. But you also love them, and will do anything to make sure they don't. And then you make excuses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If Only By Your Power

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any grammar/spelling mistakes, PLEASE tell me. I will not be offended. If something sounds weird, TELL ME. Also, if you just plain don't like it, that's cool too. I'm always curious what people think.

They were in the heat of battle when Thor fell.

The Midgardians forgot sometimes that Thor wasn’t really a god, that he lived and died like the rest of them. He wasn’t invincible. He was strong, yes. Powerful. But not immortal.

It wasn’t entirely clear which world their attacker had come from, but the Avengers were struggling. Sreftor, he called himself, was one of their toughest opponents to date, and now that Thor was gravely injured by the alien’s bursts of fiery energy, they truly began to worry.

None of them could stop even for a second, no one could run to Thor’s side to help or to try and save him. All of their efforts needed to be focused on Sreftor before any others fell, and so Thor was left to suffer in the dirt. His breathing grew slow and his eyes turned glassy.

Steve hated these moments, when he wanted to be Steve Rogers and run to his friend’s side. He didn’t think he could help, but he could hold the man’s hand and offer him words of comfort. Commend him on his bravery and remind him of how grateful everyone was. But he needed to be Captain America right now, and so he fought.

Tony was thankful the helmet was on. He was a grown man, but he was about to cry. Thor, oh god, Thor. His main man, his drinking buddy, Mr. Muscle, He-Man, Point Break, his _friend_. He wasn’t supposed to die. He was a god, for fuck’s sake. They weren’t the Avengers without him.

Natasha was breathing heavy but she looked as calm as ever. She wasn’t. Now was not the time to look into Thor’s direction, she told herself logically. When she got back to Stark Tower, _if_ she got back to Stark Tower, she’d lock herself in her room and scream and scream and scream. But now, she needed to take this piece of shit down.

Clint lost his earpiece more than an hour ago and he was running dangerously low on arrows. But he was ever the optimist so everything was totally cool. Except then Thor fell down and didn’t get back up. Then it was totally not cool and everything wasn’t fine anymore. He shot a glance at Natasha and could have sworn he saw her tear up for a moment. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. _Fuck_.

Something was wrong. It was always hard to understand simple things when he was in this form, but Hulk could tell something was innately wrong. That’s how instinct worked. He knew he needed to kill this alien thing and he knew the people beside him weren’t enemies. And for the time being, he didn’t know much else.

Pain. _Searing_ pain. Thor wanted to scream, to thrash around, to weep, but all he could do was open his mouth and gasp, breathing shallowly. Surely this wasn’t real, it couldn’t be. This was just a terrifying dream for surely nothing could feel like this. And yet, through the haze, he knew he wouldn’t be getting up again. Breathing grew harder and even keeping his eyes open was too monumental of a task. Wasn’t dying in battle the greatest honor? Tears began to trickle down from the corners of his eyes.

It was so quiet that no one noticed at first. Clint was the first to spot him.

“Loki!?”

The raven haired man looked like hell as he walked towards Sreftor and the Avengers. Skin paler than usual, eyes sunken in, his clothes elegant but worn, Loki still looked absolutely beautiful, like a fallen angel. And the look on his face would have struck fear into Lucifer himself.

With a wave of Loki’s hands, everyone in a one mile radius froze in place except for Sreftor. The tiny creature, only the size of a human, jerked his head towards the new guest and scowled. Before he could even open his mouth, Loki spoke.

“Are you the one who injured my brother?”

Such a simple question with such calm delivery. Loki’s eyes, however, were glittering. Sreftor narrowed his eyes, raised his arms, and prepared to strike.

“How dare you address me!? I am Sreftor, Prince of—“ He wasn’t able to finish the sentence.

With a snap of Loki’s fingers, the alien’s neck was broken and he fell to the ground in an undignified heap. A collective chill ran through the frozen, but very aware Avengers who understood that in this moment they were completely vulnerable to a very dangerous and powerful man. Loki didn’t even spare them a glance, turning and walking towards Thor.

Thor was barely breathing at this point, completely unaware of everything that had just happened. His eyes had shut a long time ago and his mind closed itself up in an effort to protect itself from pain in its last moments. Loki fell to his knees at Thor’s side and began to call upon all the seidr his body could muster, healing his brother. It was a grueling half an hour but finally Thor opened his eyes, fresh and healthy. The pain was gone and he felt strong.

In a way, he wasn’t surprised to see Loki at his side. And even though Loki stared at him in open hatred, even now, Thor was not so big a fool to miss the fear in his brother’s eyes. Thor knew he only had the chance to say a few words before Loki silenced him and left, so he raised his hand and gripped the back of Loki’s neck.

“I live, brother, if only by your power.”

For a single moment, Loki’s eyes softened. For a single moment, there was peace. Just two silly boys who had grown together, fought together, laid together. But the moment was gone an instant later. Loki’s mouth twisted into a smirk.

“Sleep, fool.” Thor’s arm fell from Loki’s neck and his head hit the dirt, unconscious.

Loki rose gracefully and made his way towards the man in iron. Ripping the metal mask from the rest of the armor, Loki was able to look Tony in the eye as he leaned in, two inches from the man’s face.

“If my brother dies and it is not by my hand, I will make your suffering my life’s work. And after you finally die, this pathetic planet will suffer in your place. Remember, human, I live a _long_ time.” Loki’s voice was deceptively soft.

With that, he turned around and walked away. The moment he was out of sight, the enchantment broke. The Avenger’s ran to their hammer-wielding friend who was once again opening his eyes.

~ 

“I thought you imprisoned him?”

“How did he get out?”

“He was _your_ responsibility!”

“We’re glad you’re okay, but what the hell Thor!?”

“He could have killed us!”

“He’s out there right now and he’s powerful!”

“You didn’t see what he did to Sreftor! He just snapped his fingers and the guy was dead!”

They were yelling over each other as Thor slowly removed his armor, the team safely back at Stark Tower. He understood, he did. But he was tired.

“How did he know where to find us!?”

“Has he been watching us?”

“He called you his brother!”

“And why the hell did he heal you if he only plans to kill you later?”

“You’re not even his brother!”

“ENOUGH!” roared Thor, slamming his fist on the table.

You could hear a pin drop.

“Whether we share blood or not, Loki and I were raised together. He is my brother. And just because he hates me does not mean he does not love me. Loki is my brother and once, he was my friend and my lover. You will _never_ understand so, please, for now, leave me.” With that, Thor went to his room and closed the door. Leaning against it, he closed his eyes.

“I miss you,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

A sudden gust of wind blew in through the window, rustling the leaves of his potted tree.

“Sentimental oaf,” the leaves seemed to say, and Thor smiled fondly.


End file.
